Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he visited his wife's home while she was out of town because he didn't want his 14-year-old son to watch the Super Bowl alone.

Sanford, who is running for a vacant congressional seat and trying to mount a political comeback, issued a news release Wednesday explaining why he was at his wife's home in February.

Jenny Sanford has filed court documents saying her ex-husband violated their divorce settlement by visiting her Sullivans Island home Feb. 3, using his cellphone as a flashlight. He has been ordered to appear at a court hearing in May, two days after the election.

He and Jenny Sanford divorced in 2010 after it became public that he secretly left the state to be with his Argentine mistress. Mark Sanford and that woman, Maria Chapur, are now engaged.